


One Thing After Another

by Stay_Lovely443



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fanfiction, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-16 14:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/863019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stay_Lovely443/pseuds/Stay_Lovely443
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek's pack has their hands full. The Alpha Pack is invading their territory, and it's still unclear what they want, there are Druid killings, and Stiles and Lydia are cracking under the pressure of both trying to prevent  the killings, and figure them out, there's still no word on where Gerard Argent is and not knowing what he's been up to is making everyone in the pack uneasy, and Erica and Allison are working together on some big top secret mission no one else knows about. Could all the chaos and secrets be the undoing of the pack? Read to find out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Teen Wolf Fan-fiction, so please take it easy on me! I'll try to update as much as possible, but I might get writers block here and there, so sorry in advance. Visit me on Tumblr: stay-lovely443.tumblr.com, and message me what you think about is on there, I'll try to implement your suggestions as best I can. BTW, I follow back, so follow me! (:  
> Thanks,  
> xoxo  
> -Rejoice

_"You can’t outrun your problems, Daisy. They’ll just be waiting for you when you come back.” –Sarah Hina (Plum Blossoms in Paris)_

Allison ran. She ran, and ran until she could feel her calves screaming in protest. She ran until her lungs had gone numb. She ran until she felt like she was floating.   
Whenever Allison ran, she felt like everything in the world stopped. There weren't any more sacrificial killings, there wasn't the impending danger of the Alpha Pack on the loose, and more importantly, her mother wasn't dead. Her grandfather wasn't selfish and out there somewhere and her Aunt Kate wasn't a serial killer. When Alison ran, it didn't matter that she was alone. It didn't matter that she was in love with Scott but couldn't be with him. None of that mattered, because when she ran, all her problems stopped. Everything just stopped. 

She turned the corner to her house and slowed to a jog. She didn't dare walk or give herself the satisfaction of catching her breath. When Allison finally reached her door, she flung it open and hunched forward, resting her hands on her knees.

"Enjoy your run?" Her father asked.

She jumped at the sound of his voice. She expected him to be asleep. There was something in his hands, but when her brain finally processed what it was, all the color drained from her face, regardless of her exertion.  

"Where did you find that?" She whispered. They were the only two in the house, so she knew that it was a pointless effort, but she also knew that if she raised her voice anymore, it would crack. 

"In your room, it was at the bottom of your laundry basket." He answered simply. 

"What were you doing in my room?" Allison whispered. She still couldn't raise her voice. 

"I think the more important question would be why did I find it in your room, Allison?" 

"It's _my_ crossbow," She spat, finally gaining volume, "and it was in _my room_. The only thing that doesn't belong in _my room_ is _you_." 

"Allison, we agreed that we wouldn't do this anymore!" Her dad sighed, everything about his body language yelled defeat; from the slump of his shoulders, to the frown on his face that replaced his ever bright smile. "We decided that the only way we would stay in Beacon Hills was if _we didn't do this_." 

"I couldn't just sit back and watch through my window while Boyd and Cora killed innocent people! Out of anyone, you should understand that." Suddenly, her dad went stiff. "Yeah, I knew you were out there that night. I knew you were helping Derek, and I know what you’re going to say; ‘he killed your mother’. Well he killed your wife too, dad. But you know what she was doing when he bit her? She was trying to kill Scott. She was trying to kill Scott, and Derek bit her to protect him." Tears sprang into Allison's brown eyes, but she blinked rapidly, trying to keep them from falling.

"Go to bed, Allison. It's late." Her dad whispered, heading toward the basement.   
She knew that he wasn't whispering because he wanted to be quiet. He was whispering because if he'd been any louder, his voice would have cracked. 

 

* * *

 

_“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” –Steve Maraboli_

Stiles walked into the kitchen. One look at the counter, and he was off. "Okay, who the hell ripped up this bag of fucking potato chips and left it here like that, If Lydia sees this she is going to blow a gasket, and guess who isn’t dealing with that? Me, I am not getting yelled at by Lydia for any of you." 

"Calm down, mom. I've got it." Boyd says, walking into the room broom in hand. 

"How many times do I have to tell you pups that there is a fucking seal on the bag? No need to whip out the danger claws and maul the damn thing." Stiles loved the pack as much as a mother loved her own children, but sometimes he just wanted to throw them all into a cage for a few hours and poke them with a stick.

"Got it,” Boyd mumbles sweeping the spewed contents of the bag into the trashcan.

“’Got it’? Boyd, its common courtesy! I could have walked in here and not have bothered to look where I was going, and 'Oh no! Crushed potato chips! That's going to be a bitch to clean-up' because once the job looks like it's going to take more than fucking 3 seconds everyone leaves it for Stiles to deal with." 

Boyd just smirks at him. It was just like him to overreact about everything. It wasn't that he didn't see where Stiles was coming from, because he did. It was just that after all the killings and sessions with Deaton, everything seemed to set him off.

Suddenly Stiles realized how quiet the house was. There wasn't any yelling from the living room, dining room, or upstairs. "Where is everyone?" He looks at his watch. It read 10:32 PM. “It’s a school night.”

"Derek's loft," Boyd answers. "Training went longer than usual and I left for a snack break." As if to verify that, Boyd took a potato chip and stuck it into his mouth. 

"Why is it taking this long?" Stiles asks, concern washing over him. It wasn't like Derek to keep the pack back for so long.

"He wouldn't say." Boyd shrugs spilling the last of the discarded chips into the trashcan. "I should head back, though." He rushes to put the broom back into the closet and looked at Stiles. "If he keeps us for longer than an hour after I leave, come and get us." 

Stiles smiles back at Boyd but they both know that he's being serious about the comment.   
"Will do," Stiles answers watching Boyd as he went. He really hoped there really wasn't anything bothering Derek. 

* * *

 

_“You must never be satisfied with losing. You must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. But the mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates.” –Richard M. Nixon_

_To: Sourwolf_  
Keeping the pack longer than usual. Need I remind you that it’s a school night? What gives?   
  
 _To: Little Red Stiles_  
Nothing gives. They just need a little more training.   
  
 _To: Sourwolf_  
Since when?   
  
 _To: Little Red Stiles_    
Since always. Can't talk right now, they won't take me seriously if I'm on the phone.  
  
 _To: Sourwolf_  
They won’t take you seriously if you don’t let them go to bed. It’s a school night, Derek!  
  
 _To: Little Red Stiles_  
They need this.  
  
 _To: Sourwolf_  
Derek, I get that you want to keep them safe and I love you for it, but with all the different things going on your nerves are on high alert, and instead of training them, you’ll just end up tiring them out.   
  
 _To: Little Red Stiles_    
I get what you’re saying, and I love you too! But I really can’t talk right now.

 

"You must be talking to Stiles." Erica says, wrinkling her nose when Derek puts his phone away. “I can smell it all over you.”

"Shut up." Derek answers, flashing his eyes red. 

Erica merely rolls his eyes, but he can tell that she's backing down.

"Erica, Cora you're next." Derek says gesturing with his chin for Cora to join Erica in the middle of the loft. 

"Great." Cora scowls. She looks at Erica with aversion. 

"You ready to lose little sister?" Erica mocks, tying her golden curly hair into a bun at the top of her head and baring her extended teeth and finger nails.

Cora stiffens at the name, but doesn't back down from Erica's challenge. 

"At least try not to scratch one another's eyes out this time." Jackson calls from the corner of the room. He's nursing to his own injuries from fighting Isaac not too long ago. 

"No, I like it when they get feisty." Boyd argues, strolling into the room with multiple bags of chips and snacks in hand. 

When Derek sees the bag, he raises an eyebrow at Boyd. "Stiles said that if you're so adamant on torturing us all night, that you might as well feed us." Boyd shrugs. 

"I'm not torturing you. But after you, Cora, and Erica's run-in with the Alpha Pack, we need to be prepared for any and everything. So Cora, Erica, begin." 

As if Cora was anticipating that very order, she lunges at Erica and tackles her to the floor. “Looks like little sister’s ready to win!” Cora spits as she scrapes her claws across Erica’s face.

Isaac flinches at the scratch from the stairs, and touches his hand at his own cheek.

Erica hikes up her right leg and rams her knee into Cora’s abdomen. The impact of the knee staggers Cora back a bit, and Erica takes advantage of that long enough to wrap her left hand around Cora’s neck, and place her left foot on her chest and push her off of her body and clear into a wooden pillar. Cora’s head crashes into the pillar, and she falls flat on her stomach.

Erica rises up from the floor and licks her lips, anticipating Cora’s next move. Cora on the other hand simply rolls over to her back and exposes her neck, a sign of submission. Erica straightens up and struts to the stairs, dropping down next to Isaac.

Isaac turns Erica’s face over so that he can see her scratches, and places his fingers on it. Abruptly, his veins turned a dark shade of gray, and the stinging Erica felt from the wound is absorbed by Isaac’s fingers.

She smiles warmly at him and takes his hand in hers. “Thank you.” She says, intertwining her fingers in his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Derek walks over to Cora still sprawled on the floor and squats down next to her. “You never back down from a fight. You never submit like that again.” Derek hisses.

“She smashed my head against a fucking pillar Derek, what the hell were you expecting me to do?”

“Yeah,” Jackson adds, displaying his still healing arm. “I thought we were training, If I’d have known you were expecting us to fight to the death, I would have stayed home.”

“Listen to yourselves.” Derek says, shaking his head. “A pack of dangerous Alphas come into town, and you cry over a few minor bruises.”

“’Minor bruises’” Jackson scoffs. “Isaac broke my arm in three places!”

“You were going to smash my head in.” Isaac retorts.

“Well, at least Boyd didn’t try sticking your leg where your head should be.” Scott chips in, rubbing his neck.”

“You almost crushed my entire ribcage McCall.” Boyd responds, tossing him a bag of marshmallows.

Derek stands back up and looks at every single member of his pack. Scott rubbing his leg and opening a bag of marshmallows with his teeth, Boyd smashing a handful of Doritos into his mouth, Erica and Isaac cuddling on the staircase, Jackson stretched out on the couch with his phone in his one good arm, and Cora still lying on the floor.

“We’re done here.” Derek barks, his eyes unconsciously flashing red.

“Thank the Lord!” Jackson praises, prancing out of the loft with his bad arm hugged to his chest, and onto the elevator. Isaac and Erica follow suit not too far behind. Isaac is holding his head in one hand, and one of Erica’s in the other. Boyd is the next one to make it to the elevator, with Scott limping beside him. Cora rises slowly from her slump on the floor and into the elevator.

Derek just looks at his pack standing in the elevator watching him.

“You coming, boss,” Boyd asks, his mouth full.

“I’ll be down in a minute.” He replies, turning toward the windows in his loft. He listens to the descent of the elevator and the chatter of his pack. He knows that they know he can hear them, but that doesn’t stop them from whining about how hard he’s been working them as of late. “Now what,” He asks no one in particular.

* * *

 

_“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones- the ones at home.” –Mother Teresa_

_To: Erica_

1212 South Posey St. Beacon Hills, Cali. 20110. Come in through the side door of the building.

 

Erica’s stomach flipped at the text. She looked at the time on her phone. 1:19 AM. Silently, she disentangled herself from the sleeping limbs of her pack, and walked out of the room. Looking back at their sleeping forms interwoven with one another, it pulled at her. She knew that this was the only way to keep them safe, but it broke her heart nonetheless. Breathing in, she turned around and walked out of the room, silently slipping out of the house and into the night.

* * *

 

_“Family isn’t an important thing. It’s everything.” –Michael J. Fox_

 

“Okay, I swear to God Jackson, if you aren’t out of this bathroom in 2 seconds, I am going to kill you!” Stiles yells, hammering his hand on the door. “There are 5 other people that need to use this bathroom too.”

Erica passes by in a black tank top with the moon cycle on it, black skinny jeans, and studded toe capped carpenter boots. To top it all off, she was wearing a gray field jacket. Her perfect curls rest around her face and her brilliant red lipstick makes her looks stunning.

When Stiles spots her, he adds hitting the door harder. “Okay, there are only 4 people that need to use the bathroom, but it doesn’t change the fact that you need to get out of there, like, now!”  Turning back to Erica, he asks “How do you get up so early in the morning, anyway?”

Erica smiles, but when Cora passes by her the smile turns into a slight sneer. “The early bird gets the worm.” She chirps, skipping down the stairs.

“I’m out.” Jackson snaps, swinging the door open just as Stiles’ about to thud away at it again. He misses the door and his hand falls on Jackson’s chest.

“Can we have this love fest somewhere else, I need to get in.” Boyd asks brushing passed Stiles and Jackson and into the bathroom. Before Stiles can protest, the door is slammed closed.

“Oh come on!” Stiles protests, knocking at the door.

“You snooze you lose.” Jackson jokes, pushing passed Stiles and into his bedroom.

 

Lydia swarms into the house and makes a beeline for Derek’s room. She flings open the door, and looks at Derek who’s in nothing but pajama bottoms.

“What the hell happened yesterday?” She doesn’t give him time to recover from her ambush; she lunges forward and shoves him.

Derek stumbles back a bit, but not before grabbing Lydia’s wrists and raising his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Jackson broke his arm in three places?” Lydia wriggles her arms free of Derek’s hold and folds them across her chest.

“He was training.” Derek shrugs, walking over to the closet and pulling out a black t-shirt.

“I got confirmation from more than 3 of your betas saying that it was the most intense you made them work. So again, I’m going to ask. _What happened?_ ”

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Derek asks, trying to evade the question.

“Shouldn’t you be answering my question?” Lydia snaps back, not letting him evade the question.

“Why does it matter?” Derek asks raising an eyebrow.

“If the Alpha is stressed, the pack is stressed, and I’m a part of this pack and you’re obviously stressed, so guess what Derek, I’m stressed. Secondly, he broke his arm, and I heard that your sister almost cracked her head. You’re working them too hard, Derek. You can say that it’s to ‘prepare them’ all you want, but all it’s really doing is weakening them. If a threat is close and you keep working them like you did yesterday, they will be vulnerable to their attackers.” Lydia flips her hair over her shoulder and looks at Derek with her quizzical green eyes. “Think about that.”

Before Derek can reply Lydia is strutting out of the room.

“Lydia and Erica are going to ride in Lydia’s car.” Stiles conducts when Lydia makes it out onto the driveway.  “Jackson, Isaac and Boyd in Jackson’s car, and Scott and me ride in the Jeep. Sound good?” Stiles asks, fumbling with the zipper of his backpack.

When everyone replies with scattered yes’s Stiles pulls his car door open and climbs in.

* * *

 

_“_ _Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures._ _” –Vince Lombardi_

Walking into first period, Erica can’t help but feel two sets of eyes land on her. She knows who they are, but instead of looking their way she just ignores them. She knows that she’ll have to deal with them later, but for right now, she just needed to focus on her school work.

Taking a deep breath, she pulls out her History textbook.

 

Lunch was like a sport to Stiles. Round up all of the pups and Lydia, and ask how they’re days were going before free period and go to Dr. Deaton’s or Ms. Morrell’s with Lydia for their training.

Today, Dr. Deaton had texted him and said that they were cancelling their training session, so instead of having a swift conversation, they all sat together and really talked. Everyone was present except for Erica, who always seemed to favor reading her class notes in the library.

He was half listening to Jackson talk about how he was pretty sure that Coach Finstock had bullshitted his grade on his Economics Pop Quiz when he noticed that one of the twins was missing.

“Anyone else notice that they’re one short today?” Stiles asks, looking toward the twin.

“That’s Ethan,” Lydia says, looking at the twin Stiles was talking about.

“How the hell do you know that?” Jackson questions Lydia.

“I just do,” Lydia snips, rolling her eyes at Jackson and the low growl at the back of his throat.

As if he could feel - more precisely, hear- them talking about him, Ethan looked at Stiles and the pack. A small smile spread across his face, when Isaac caught his eye, and anger flared from the pit of Isaac’s stomach.

Everyone at the tables’ attention shifted, however when Aiden walked into the lunchroom.

It wasn’t his presence that made the pack uneasy and panicky, it was his scent. He smelled like Erica.       

* * *

 

_“For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.” –Bo Bennett_

 

_To: Sourwolf_

Something’s wrong with the pack, but they won’t tell me what.

 

_To: Little Red Stiles_

How do you know anything’s wrong?

 

_To: Sourwolf_

Let’s just say that we’re at lunch and everyone’s concerning me with how quiet they’re being.

 

_To: Little Red Stiles_

I’ll get to the bottom of it.

 

_Mass Text To: Feisty, Big Boyd, Scotty-Wolf, Porsche, Beta_

What’s wrong? Don’t say ‘nothing’ because it has to be something.

 

_To: Boss_

Erica’s scent is on Aiden. (The Alpha wolf twin)

_To: Camaro_

Erica’s scent is all over one of the Alpha twins. I think they’ve been hooking-up?

_To: Alpha Derek-Wolf_

Aiden smells like Erica.

_To: Alpha_

It’s Erica. Her scent is on one of the Alpha twins, and if he hurt her, I’m attacking him and I don’t care, Derek!

_To: Broody Alpha_

I don’t know. I’m at the library, been here all lunch period.

 

_To: Feisty_

Was anyone at the library with you?

_To: Broody Alpha_

Nope. Just me and a bunch of History and Chemistry notes. Why?

_To: Feisty_

Stiles was worried, but if you’re at the library you probably don’t know what it is.

_To: Broody Alpha_

Yeah

 

Derek sighs at his phone. He puts on his leather jacket and heads toward the loft to do a little pre-training work out.

"Where are you going?" Cora asks, rising from the couch to follow Derek.

"I'm going to get a workout before the training. Stay here and wait for everyone else."

"Fine," Cora replies, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Derek didn't have time to worry about Cora, whatever it was that Erica was hiding wasn’t going to be hidden long, because he’d just caught her in a lie.

* * *

 

_“The_ _family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together”-Erma Bombeck_

           

2 hours later, the pack started trickling out of the elevator and into the loft. Derek looked through them for Erica, but she wasn’t in the fold.

“Where the hell is Erica?” He asks placing his fingers to his nose.

“We didn’t see her after lunch. It’s like she ditched school all together.” Scott said, concern coloring his face.

“So what do you guys mean about Erica’s scent being on an Alpha twin?” Derek asks after a few minute of uncomfortable silence.

“We mean that one of the twins snuck into the house when we weren’t looking and stole Erica’s shampoo, Derek. What the hell do you think we mean?” Jackson yells, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up, Jackson.” Lydia snaps, smacking Jackson’s arm.

“I just don’t get it.” Isaac says, after a few more seconds of quiet. “Aiden was in last period. Erica wasn’t.”

“She texted me that she was in the library alone when you guys were saying her scent was on him.”

“Well, after we smelled her on him, it’s like she disappeared.” Scott replied.

“This reminds me of the time we spent in the volt.” Cora says shaking her head.

“What are you talking about?” Derek asks, looking at his sister.

“She was the only way we knew that full moons had passed, because every full moon Kali and Ennis would come in and attack me and Boyd, and Deucalion would come and take Erica away. She wouldn’t come back until the next night, and when she did she had Aiden’s scent all over her.”

“Yeah,” Boyd adds. “I asked her about it once, and she said that if she told me they would kill me, but that they needed me so she couldn’t do that.”

Derek remembered how Erica wasn’t reacting to being locked in the volt the same way Boyd and Cora had. They were barely able to contain their rage. She was just sitting in the corner with a faraway expression on her face.

“I didn’t want to ask her anything because I thought it would set her off somehow.” Derek admitted.

“Me too,” Isaac added, looking at the ground.

“So was I,” Scott said, looking at Derek with understanding.

“I asked her once,” Jackson interjected, nodding at everyone’s surprised looks, “then she asked me which hand I liked better, because if I asked her about it again, she was going to rip the other one off.”

“Really,” Lydia asks, rolling her eyes at Jackson’s stupidity.

“I didn’t say that she told me anything helpful, just that I’d asked her.” He shrugs.

“Okay, if no one has anything _helpful_ to say, how about we don’t say anything at all?” Stiles says, looking specifically at Jackson.

Before Jackson can fire a snide comment at Stiles the elevator to the loft shifts, announcing a visitor.

Everyone can smell Erica before they see her, but they can all smell Aiden lingering in her scent.

“Sorry I’m late, I lost track of time.” Erica says, rushing into the loft her face flushed. She stops whens she sees that everyone is simply sitting around the loft staring at her. Panic starts to rise in her stomach, but she plays it cool. “So, what was that text you sent me at lunch about, Derek?”

“What’s going on with you, Erica,” Derek asks her, concern lining her face.

“What do you mean?” She asks, smiling.

“Everyone said that at lunch today, they could smell your scent on Aiden.”

“Aiden, ‘Alpha Pack’, Aiden?”

“No, Aiden from Alice and Wonderland, Erica. The one that gave Alice those sparkly ruby slippers and told her there wasn’t any place like home.” Jackson snips, shaking his head at Erica.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking me then.” Erica replies, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We mean, ‘what are you doing with the Alpha Pack?” Derek says, his eyes flashing red.

Erica’s own eyes flash and everyone goes stiff. A Beta never challenged an Alpha.

“I’m not doing anything with the Alpha Pack.” Erica answers through clenched teeth.

“Then why did Boyd, Isaac, Scott, and Jackson all confirm that your scent was on Aiden?” Derek growls throwing his phone with the text from the rest of the pack at Erica’s feet.

“I. Don’t. Know.” Erica snaps, icily.

“You’re lying!” Derek yells lunging at Erica. He tackles her to the ground and wraps his hand around her neck, forcing her to the ground with his body weight.

“Why would I lie?” Erica asks, starkly.

“Erica, I’m really losing my patience with you.” Derek says, his eyes glowing red.

“This is you _losing_ patience?” Erica laughs, her own eyes glowing. “Hate to see what you look like fed up then.”

“You’re real close.” Derek snarls, his teeth elongating. Erica could feel the prick of his claws extracting as well.

“This is ridiculous, and you want to know why? I don’t have anything to do with the Alpha Pack!” Erica yells.

“Then why would they say you do?” Derek barks, his hand tightening around Erica’s neck.

“I don’t know!” Erica repeats, her eyes flashing gold. She tried to twist her hands free of Derek’s hold, but to no avail.

Her arms were being pinned down by Derek’s knees, but she could feel her own claws sprouting. She bore out her teeth and snapped at Derek’s throat, anger unexpectedly bubbling up in her.

Everyone gasped as they watched their fellow Beta dare their Alpha. Derek growled loud in her face, and everyone other than Erica flinched.

Suddenly, she jerked up her knee and smashed it into Derek’s stomach. When he staggered back, she was able to unbind her left arm, and scrape it against Derek’s cheek.

Derek, more shocked then anything, reeled back onto his heels and sat flat on the ground looking at Erica in disbelief.

Everyone was paralyzed with astonishment and stared at Erica. She just lies there flat on her back, looking at her left hand that had just struck her own Leader with complete revulsion. How could she have used what Derek had given her against him?

Erica sat up from where she was and gazed back at Derek.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, her eyes holding genuine humiliation. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me…”

“I am too,” Derek replies. “I’m sorry too…”

When she reaches her hand out for him to take, she’s expecting him to reject her, to tell her she’s too much of a handful to be in his pack anymore, to snarl and flash his red eyes at her, but instead, Derek reaches out his own hand and intertwines his fingers with Erica’s. Then, he pulls her into his lap. He wraps his strong arms around her and buries his face in her hair.

“You just have to tell us what’s going on, Erica. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can deal with as a pack.” Derek whispers to her through her hair. If it wasn’t for her sensitive hearing, it would have sounded like he’d been mumbling. “We can get through it… as a family.”

For the first time since the bite, Erica burst into tears. She cried for her pack, she cried for having to lie to them, and most importantly, Erica cried for herself.

* * *

 

_“_ _Conflict_ _is the beginning of consciousness.” –M Esther Harding_

“So what are we going to do now?” Stiles asks, flopping onto his stomach into bed. He fluffs his pillow and squishes it under his chin, looking at Derek, who’s lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“We’ll figure it out.” Derek replies, touching his palm to his cheek. Erica’s scratch had fully healed by now, but internally it had left its mark.

“Hey,” Stiles says, covering Derek’s hand with one of his own. “She’ll be okay. She’ll tell us when she’s ready.” He kisses Derek on his cheek and sighs at his mate’s far away expression. “Trust me, she’ll be fine. If you ask me, I’d say that the worst was over.”

“I just don’t get it. What is she trying to hide so strongly, that she’d be willing to attack her own Alpha?” Derek didn’t understand at all.

“I don’t know, but don’t think too much. It’ll just add more stress that we don’t have time for.”

“You’re probably right…” Derek agrees turning Stiles’ palm over and intertwining his fingers in them.

“I always am,” Stiles yawns, squeezing Derek’s hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Stiles.” Derek sighs, closing his eyes.

Just as he was about to relax in the warmth of his partner and doze off, Derek heard some movement from the end of the hall.

“Stiles,” Derek whispers.

“Hmm…” Stiles asks, halfway asleep.

“Which stair creaks a little?” He strained to hear the sound better, and heard footsteps of boots trying with effort to quiet while passing by their door.

“The third step from the bottom, why?” Stiles mumbles.

Derek listens, and just as Stiles had said, the boots purposefully pass the third step from the bottom. Sighing he closes his eyes again.

* * *

 

_“I'm_ _comfortable in my miseries. I have no choice.” –Shelby Lynne_

_To: Erica_

1984 N. Roden Ave. 20220. Come in through the main entrance and turn left into the small hallway. I’ll be waiting in the third room over.


	2. Unleashed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided I'm not going to quote anymore, but I hope you still like it nonetheless. I'm still working with the basic concepts the show's using fyi.

 

Allison couldn't sleep, so she pushed herself out of bed, slipped on her robe, and headed downstairs for a midnight snack. 

After rummaging around her pantry for what seemed like ages, she finally settled on a bag of marshmallows. She randomly remembered that marshmallows were Scott's favorite snack. She remembered how he used to insist on eating them when they watched movies in his living room, or studied together. The memory of the time they had spent together made a small smile spread on her face. 

Allison was looking through her cabinets for a bowl to put the contents of the bag in, when she heard a knock on her door. Who could be knocking her door at 2:37 AM? After a minute of speculating, Allison headed over to the door and paused momentarily before pulling it open. 

Standing there in the night, looking as scared and vulnerable as ever was the last person Allison would have expected... Erica. 

"I needed someone to talk to, and I didn't know where else to go. Next thing I knew I was knocking on your door." Erica explains, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Allison didn't know how to react to Erica. She'd never seen the She wolf look so disheveled. "Erica, what's going on?" 

"I did something really stupid, and I need someone to talk to..." Erica whispers. 

"Come in," Allison offers, stepping aside and leaving room for Erica to brush passed. 

"Thank you," Erica says, stepping through Allison's threshold. "So here's the thing..." 

 

Allison listened in silence. She let Erica speak until she was done.  She waited patiently when Erica got chocked up and let out a soft sob. She listened quietly to the parts of the story that made her want to grimace in shock or disgust, and she let out little noises when appropriate. 

Erica and Allison had  never been close, so when Erica had said she needed someone to talk to, Allison had wondered why she hadn't just told anyone in her pack. Now that she heard the story, she understood. Now that she heard the story, she could relate. 

 

* * *

 

 

At around 4:12 AM., Erica quietly let herself back into the house. She felt relieved to have finally been able to tell someone. She felt like a burden had been lifted. She had almost felt free, until she turned around and came face to face with Derek that is. 

"Where have you been?" Derek asks, looking at Erica's stunned face. 

"I went out..." Erica replies, turning toward the stairs. 

"Where have you been," Derek asks again, his voice rising a little. 

"I went over to the Argents." Erica sighs. She was tired of lying to everyone. 

"What were you doing there?" Derek questions, smelling her scent for Aiden's. He couldn't smell him on her, only Allison. 

"I needed someone to talk to." Erica says, looking down at her feet.

"Why did you have to go over there to find someone to talk to?" Derek retorts, unconvinced. "You don't even like Allison." 

"That's not necessarily true." Erica argues, shaking her head. "I don't like her lifestyle or beliefs, but that's something we both have in common. For a long while, she didn't agree with my lifestyle or beliefs either. After all that's happened, I don't say I blame her."

"So now you two are the best of friends?" Derek snaps, mockingly. 

"I didn't say that," Erica shoots back. "All I said was that I needed someone to talk to, and she understood where I was coming from." 

"You couldn't have spoken with anyone else?" Derek asks, his eyes momentarily flashing hurt. As soon as Erica spotted it though, it vanished. Now his expression was masked by something that mirrored disapproval. "You couldn't have talked to me?"

"No," Erica says simply, heading up the stairs. "I couldn't."

"And why is that?" Derek asks, crossing his hands over his chest.

"Who has ever been able to talk to you, Derek. You couldn't possibly be surprised that your emotionally locked up facade would eventually get old, and people would give up trying to get close to you, could you? The only person that had the strength and persistence to keep sifting through your layers was Stiles, and even now, after he's finally stripped you clear to the bone, you're still only giving him an inch." 

"You don't know anything." Derek barks, glaring at Erica.

"You know what, I'm done talking to you, Derek. I'm done answering your questions that you try to mask as you only asking 'because you care', when it's obvious you don't trust me."

"Get some sleep, you have to be up for school in a little bit." Derek snaps, turning away from Erica and leaving the room. 

"That's just like you! To walk away from a conversation as soon as it gets even the least bit emotional!" Erica yells after him. She wasn't surprised that he didn't respond. It was just like Derek to shut down when things got too personal. Instead of wallowing on the steps, Erica stomps up the stairs and toward the puppy pile in Isaac's room. 

She looked at her sleeping pack mates, Isaac's his head resting on Scott's stomach, Scott's head resting on Boyd's shoulder, and Boyd's arm under Cora's head.  She had started to walk toward them before stopping. What was Cora doing there? Turning away from their sleeping forms, Erica headed toward her own  room next door, before stopping and instead turned toward the room down the hall.

She knew it was foolish to feel jealous, but Boyd, Isaac, and Scott were her boys. Who did Cora think she was swooping in and trying to stake claim on what was hers?  
Erica stopped in front of the door. She breathes in quietly before pushing it open, sliding swiftly inside, and closing it softly behind her. With one last breath, Erica gravitates toward the sleeping pack mate before her, and sits down on the bed. 

Jackson stirs at the tilt of the bed, and  looks up at Erica's silhouette in the dim room. Scooting over a bit, he makes room for her and mumbles, "Took you long enough. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever get tired of sleeping in a pile with the rest of them." 

Erica snuggles in next to him, and turns so that they’re facing each other. "I would have found my way here eventually." She whispers her breath tickling Jackson's neck. 

The tickle aroused Jackson, but he was too tired to act on the feeling. "You know what they say, better late..." A yawn interrupts his sentence. 

"Than never," Erica finishes for him, snuggling closer to Jackson and breathing in his scent. 

"Yeah," Jackson agrees, draping his hand over Erica's warm body. "Better late than never."

 

A couple hours later, Lydia walks into Jackson's bedroom with the intention of waking him up for school. She didn't do that often, but whenever she did she made sure to make Jackson's favorite coffee ad present it to him in his favorite coffee mug. One look at the bed however, and any desire to wake Jackson up fades. 

Jackson and Erica were sleeping soundly. Erica's face was snuggled into the crook of Jackson's neck, and Jackson's chin was resting on top of Erica's luscious curls. Jackson had his arms protectively draped over Erica, and he looked completely comfortable with her there. The sight before Lydia warmed her heart. Her boyfriend and fellow pack mate looked beautiful entangled into each other. 

As quietly as possible, Lydia sets the mug of coffee down on Jackson's nightstand, and creeps out of the room. She chances one last glance at the two, and she smiles to herself. 

 

When Erica opens her eyes not to long after, she feels warmth all around her. Looking up at the face above her, she sees that she’s in no other than Jackson's room. Memories of last night come back to her, and she sighs in spite of herself.   
She remembered the argument with Derek, the sight of Boyd, Scott and Isaac sleeping with Cora. She still didn't get why they would  let her join their puppy pile when they knew she didn't like Cora very much. Besides, starting the puppy pile was her idea. 

"Are you disappointed to find yourself in my bed?" Jackson asks, looking down at Erica. 

"What, why?" Erica questions, looking at Jackson with confusion. 

"You sighed," Jackson clarifies.

"Oh," Erica says, realization hitting her. "No, that wasn't about you. That was about the rest of the pack." Erica shakes her head. She places a hand on Jackson's cheek and smiles at him. "I'm glad I woke up in your bed."

"I am too," Jackson says leaning down and pressing a soft kiss at the edge of Erica's lips. 

It was the first time Jackson had ever done something so intimate with her, and sure it wasn't even a kiss on the lips, but she felt it meant something. She felt like it meant more somehow.  

"We should do it again sometime, yes?" Erica whispers. She closes her eyes and feels herself blush. Since when did she blush? 

"Anytime," Jackson agrees, his hand that had been cloaking her  traveled the length of her arm. Where his hand grazed her skin, Goosebumps rose. Erica opens her eyes and looks deep into Jackson's green ones.

Suddenly, she leans up and places a tender kiss on his lips. She lets her tongue trace the outline of his mouth a few times before pulling away. Erica can feel Jackson's breathe catch and that gives her the courage to kiss him again, this time more firmly.   
Jackson's fingers stop trailing Erica's arm, and instead find their way to her chin, pressing her lips to hers. He kisses her hungrily, and bites softly at her skin. She lets out a soft moan, and Jackson's inside turn into liquid. 

It takes Erica a minute for her thoughts to clear, and another minute to make a connection to the sound of the shower down the hall.   
Hesitantly, she pulls away from Jackson, and looks into his eyes. "We have to get ready for school." She says, wrinkling her nose.

"We can be late," Jackson shrugs, his lips meeting Erica's again.   
After another minute of kissing, Erica pulls away again. "As much as I want to stay and keep kissing you, we both know we can't." 

Sighing Jackson rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "You're right," He sulks. The last time Jackson had kissed Erica, he'd been the Kanima and didn't feel any of the things he did now. His breath didn't catch at the feeling of her lips touching his, his heart rate didn't accelerate at the feeling of her tongue, his insides didn't get all mushy at the sound of her moan, and he didn't feel electricity at the warmth of her body next to his...

Suddenly, he smelled something familiar. What was that? He wondered. Mocha, was that chocolate vanilla coffee? Turning over to the direction of the smell, he spots the source of the aroma and his stomach falls to his feet. "Shit," he breathes, smacking his face with his palm.

"What," Erica asks next to him, concern coloring her face. 

"Lydia," Jackson replies, pointing at the mug. 

 

Stiles had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. Not only did he surprisingly get first dibs on the shower this morning, but he could feel a tingling in his fingers that indicated that today would be an easy training with Dr. Deaton.  Walking out of Derek and his room, he sighed in contentment. 

Downstairs, he found Lydia mixing a cup of tea and staring out of the window with a faraway expression on her face. 

"Hey," Stiles greets, walking over to the coffee maker and pouring himself a freshly brewed cup.

Lydia just raises an eyebrow in acknowledgement at Stiles. 

"Earth to Lydia." Stiles jokes, sitting across from her on the kitchen table. 

"How would you feel if you walked in on Derek sleeping with someone else." Lydia blurts, after a minute of silence. 

"What," Stiles asks, confusion washing over him. 

"No, not like that." Lydia says, shaking her head. "Like, really sleeping."   
Stiles just stares at her with a blank expression. 

"Okay, so I walked in on Jackson sleeping this morning." Lydia explains. 

"Okay," Stiles says, not getting what Lydia means. 

"He wasn't alone." She says.   
"What do you mean he wasn't..." Finally Stiles understood. "You mean, he wasn't _alone_?" 

"Yeah, Erica was next to him." Lydia says nodding her head. She looks out of the window again. 

"Are you okay? I mean, with that?" Stiles whispers. 

"Surprisingly enough, I was happy." Lydia says, furrowing her eyebrows. "I mean, I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought about being with anyone else other than Jackson, because I have. It’s just that it feels good to know that he feels the same way." She looks into Stiles' brown eyes. "I'm sorry, that didn't make any sense."

"No, it did." Stiles rushes. "I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes, I think about being with you. Other times I think about being with Isaac, and occasionally Boyd." 

"Yeah," Lydia brightens. "I mean, the weird part of all of this is that  I've never thought of being with anyone outside of the pack. With the exception of Allison anyway." 

"Same," Stiles nods. 

"So after walking in on them this morning, I got to wondering... What if Jackson and I saw other people. Like, other members of the pack. Not in the sense that we'd break-up, just that we'd have a..." Lydia shrugs. 

"Open relationship," Stiles offers, raising his hand as if he could physically hand Lydia the term.

"Exactly," Lydia says, grabbing Stiles' still extended hand. "An open relationship." 

Stiles' hand tingled at the contact with Lydia's and he felt himself blush. As if it were contagious, Lydia's own face began to redden. 

An open relationship, huh? Stiles thought, maybe that wasn't too horrible of an idea. 

 

* * *

 

 

"An open relationship?" Scott asks, closing his gym locker and looking at Stiles with skepticism. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Of course it is," Stiles exclaims, slamming his own locker shut. "When you sit down and think about it, it makes perfect sense. Almost everyone in the pack has at least some sort of sexual tension. An open relationship will break down all the barriers keeping any two, three, four, five, six, seven, or even eight members of the pack from being able to act on those attractions." 

Scott shakes his head. When Stiles explained it like that, it made perfect sense.   
Before Scott could make a counterargument, Isaac walkes into the locker room. When Scott catches Isaac's eye, Isaac smiles at him. Scott smiles back, his stomach doing a back flip. 

"See what I mean," Stiles whispers, poking Scott in the side with his elbow.

"Sexual tension." 

"As if," Scott replies halfheartedly. 

Before Stiles can make another joke about Scott's crush on Isaac, Coach Finstock walks into the locker room. "Listen up ladies, cross country is mandatory for all lacrosse players. I'm not  going to let you guys sit around and become a bunch of fat asses during off-season." As if to naturally oppose Coach Finstock's theory, Danny and Isaac take off their shirts displaying chiseled abs that were the farthest thing from fat. "So work on that."

Scott can't help but admire Isaac's physic. 

"Told you," Stiles whispers, when Coach Finstock retreats back into his office.

"Told me what?" Scott asks, tearing his eyes away from Isaac long enough to catch Stiles' smug smile.

"Two words," Stiles says, putting up his fingers as if to demonstrate. "Open relationship." 

 

Isaac was bent over tying his shoes for their cross-country practice run when he smelled a pair of scents that were both familiar and wrong. 

The two individuals with the peculiar scents passed by Isaac and anger flared through him. It was the twins. 

Scott who was at the back of the cross-country group instantly felt Isaac's irritation, and headed quickly to the front to catch up to him.   
When Scott finally made it to the front of the group, he rests his hand on Isaac's arm, in concern. 

"Isaac," he asks. "What is it." 

"They're _everywhere_!" Isaac growls, just as Coach Finstock gives everyone the okay to start running. 

"It's okay." Scott says, trying to calm Isaac down. 

"No, it's not." Isaac hisses, bolting after the twins. "It isn't okay at all!"   
Isaac rushes after the twins in frenzy. When the twins pick up speed, Isaac does too. When the twins turn to the left, so does Isaac. When the twins shift to the right, Isaac is right behind them. 

When Isaac turns a corner around a tree however, he loses sight of the twins. Confused, he looks around. Where were they? 

Just as Isaac was about to continue running the trail, he’s knocked off his feet and sent tumbling down a hill.

When he finally stops rolling down the hill, he’s ceased by the arm. 

"Ethan, I forget. How many bones are there in the human body?" One of the twins spits, smiling an evil smile at Isaac. 

Abruptly, Isaac's other side is grabbed and he’s pulled toward the other twin. He winces at the  pain in his arms. "I don't know, Aiden, let's count." The other twin sneers. 

Suddenly, the second twin was sent back on his heels. When Isaac recovered from the pressure on his arms suddenly vanish, he sees that Scott had just struck one of the twins jaws, breaking it. 

"That's one." He jokes.

The twin who'd just been hit realigns his jaw, and pushes off of the floor, baring his extending teeth and claws. His twin follows suit, his own claws and teeth elongating. 

Both Isaac and Scott prepare for a fight until the sound of screams pull them back to where the cross-country team has gathered.

Tied up to a tree, by a dog leash that Scott had seen the night before while at the vet with Dr. Deaton, was a young boy.

His eyes were glazed over and blank, there was a terrible gash on the right side of his head, his neck was sliced open, and the only thing holding him upright was that leash, that leash that Scott couldn't tear his eyes away from. 

He was finally pulled out of his trance when a firm arm started pulling him away from the body tied to the tree. When Scott looked over, it was Isaac. 

"Did you see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac asks, anger still bubbling through him. "They did it." 

"No, that was too well orchestrated to be the work of a werewolf." Scott argues, forcing himself not to look back at the leash. 

"That’s probably what they want. They're probably just trying to throw us off." 

"I don't know about that," Stiles says, leaving Sheriff Stilinski to secure the perimeter and joining his friends. "Why would a pack of werewolves. _Alpha_ werewolves to be exact, need to perform ritual killings? That doesn't add up."

"I don't know, but they killed the girl that saved me, they killed that kid, they’re messing with Erica, and I'm going to kill them too." Isaac decides, nodding his head and walking away from Stiles and Scott. 

 

* * *

 

 

"Try not to be so predictable," Derek barks at Cora from the loft. He'd decided that because she did so poorly during group training, it would be better for her to have one on one training instead. 

"How about you try not to break my leg." Cora sneers, coming at Derek from his right and then switching quickly to his left.

Derek, as if anticipating that exact combination, caught Cora's arm when she reached the left of his body, and twisted it backward before throwing her away from him and onto the floor.   

“This is bullshit," Cora yells, from the floor, cradling her right arm's wrist. 

"I told you-"

"'Don't be so predictable', I know!" Cora shoots, rising from the floor and flexing her healed wrist. "This is still fucking stupid."

"I'm sorry you find the act of protecting your life stupid, Cora." Derek says, plainly. 

"When are you ever not annoying, Derek?" Cora asks, rolling her eyes.   
The question takes Derek back to the conversation Derek had with Erica earlier in the morning. She'd asked him if he'd cared about anyone.

Before he could delve into his genuine character and answer that question however, the alarm he'd set to keep out intruders sounded. 

"What the hell is that?" Cora asks, looking at Derek with panic. 

"Trouble." Derek answers, turning in the direction of the elevator. 

A large man with glowing red eyes strides into the room, and as soon as Cora recognizes him, she lunges at him. 

She gets a running start and jumps up toward his head claws extended. Repeating Derek's earlier actions, Ennis anticipates Cora's attack, and grabs effortlessly at her neck, pushing her back down toward the ground and pinning her there by her neck. When Cora's head hits the ground, it reminds her of when she'd been training with Erica the other day, and had smashed her head into the wooden pillar not too far away from where she was lying right now.

Derek was about to go after the man as well when a women came in. The women wasted little time before jumping into the air and swiping her clawed feet at Derek. With Derek's quick thinking, he dodged the kick and grabbed at the woman's leg, pulling her down. The women fell to the floor, but got back up far quicker than Derek could react. She jumped up again, this time her arms reaching upward and pulling on one of the pipes at the ceiling of the loft. The women broke the pipe from ceiling and swung it at Derek. Derek dodged it quickly, but before he knew it she had swung it again, and he was struck across the face. The impact of the pipe turned Derek around so that his back was to his opponent, and he fell to his knees. Before he could recover his footing however, the women had the pipe wrenched through Derek's back and coming out through his lower chest. The pain was deafening as the pipe tore through imperative organs and tissue. 

Derek could hear his younger sister gasping, but he could barely focus on anything except the crippling pain emanating through his body, and the tapping of what sounded like a stick hitting the loft's wooden floor.

"Everybody done," Another voice asks, "because just listening to that was exhausting." 

Derek's hearing was going fuzzy, and his vision was blurring at random intervals of time from his loss of blood, but when he saw who the owner of the voice was, he knew who it was immediately. It was Deucalion. 

“So,” Deucalion says, flashing Derek a sinister smile, “let’s chat.”

 

* * *

 

 

Allison walked into the library, and searched the tables for Erica. When she finally spotted her at a table at nearly the back of the library, she headed over. 

"Hey," She greets when she reaches her.

It takes Erica a moment to finish looking over her Chemistry notes, but when she finally looks up and sees Allison, her face lights up. "Hey, Allison," she replies. 

"Okay, so I have this idea..."

 

 

"Sorry we're late," Stiles rushes when he and Lydia walk into Dr. Deaton's office.

"There was another killing, and you said that you'd give us answers if there was another killing."  

"I remember," Dr. Deaton says, his face sullen. "I remember, and I'm prepared to give you your answers."

 

* * *

 

 

“Sorry about this Derek, I asked Kali to be gentle.” Deucalion says, looking down at Derek.

“This is me being gentle,” Kali replies, digging the pipe farther into Derek’s torso. 

“Let Cora go,” Derek mumbles.

Deucalion nods at Ennis, and the Alpha releases his grip around Cora’s neck. Cora scrambles off of the ground and begins to rush toward Derek until he shakes his head in protest.

“You see,” Deucalion declares, looking at Derek. “We aren’t unreasonable.”

"What do you want?" Derek spits through the pain traveling throughout his body. He felt like his heart was on the verge of collapsing. “You want to kill me?”

“You really think I’m that boring?” Deucalion asks, pretending Derek’s question insulted him. “Don’t throw me in with the sociopaths like your uncle. I’m a man with far more vision than simple murder,” He explains taking off his glasses, his eyes were glowing red. “In fact, I’m here to show you just how much vision a blind man can have.”

If it weren't for the sharp pain in his chest, Derek would have assumed he was imagining the entire thing.

The fact that his vision was blurring wasn't helping to ebb that illusion of a delusional atmosphere. Looking down, Derek saw red. Logically, he would make the connection that that was a pool of his own blood, but with his rapid loss of said blood, he couldn't make that connection. So instead, his mind only focused on the color. His mind only focused on the red. 

 

* * *

 

 

Throughout English, Jackson's brain kept darting between thoughts of Erica, and thoughts of Lydia.

Jackson knew he loved Lydia. He didn't need anyone to verify that,  but when he was with Erica the night before, he didn't want to be anywhere else. 

He knew he needed to talk to Lydia about what happened eventually, but for right now, he'd just focus on his schoolwork. 

He was doing a good job of focusing on his work, until he got a text from Lydia that is.  

_To: My Wolf Boyfriend_

We need to talk. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Just let me get to the bottom of what it is they want." Scott pleads with Isaac during chemistry. "We can't just attack them until we know for sure what they're doing here." 

Isaac doesn't even turn around. He just glares at the blackboard as if it's taunting him. 

"Isaac," Scott calls out.

Suddenly, Isaac smells them. He smells them outside of his classroom and his anger just flares. 

"Mr. Harris, may I go to the bathroom?" Isaac asks shooting out of his chair. 

"Sure, Mr. Lahey," Mr. Harris says, nodding as Isaac, quickly strides out of the room. 

"I have to use the bathroom too." Scott rushes, rising from his chair.

"One at a time, Mr. McCall." Mr. Harris says, glaring at Scott. 

"But I really have to go. Like, medical emergency, have to go." 

" Mr. McCall, if your bladder suddenly exploded and urine began to pour from every orifice, I would still respond ‘One at a time.’" Mr. Harris replies, as Scott sits back down.

Meanwhile out in the hallway, one of the twins is beating the living hell out of the other, and Isaac is too stunned to do anything but watch. 

After one of the twins is smashed into a locker, they're thrown at Isaac's feet, and the noise from the impact makes every teacher peer out of their classrooms. 

Just as Mr. Harris exits his classroom to assess the incident before him, the other twin that had just attacked his brother disappears.

"Mr. Lahey, you are aware that this is going to lead to a week suspension, aren't you." Mr. Harris asks. 

Isaac can't even answer him, he's so shocked. So instead, he just stares down the hall at the very spot the real incident took place. 

 

* * *

 

“You’re killing him,” Cora yells, looking at the black ooze coming out of Derek’s mouth.

“Not yet little sister, but I could.” Kali says, shaking her head at Cora and smiling. Cora’s whole body stiffens at the nickname, and her mind goes back to where she’d heard it last. “Who knows if it’s five minutes or five hours before it’s too late to take this thing out,” Kali continues, oblivious to Cora’s reaction. She twirls the pipe around, and Derek gasps in pain. “Just to be on the safe side Duke, you might want to get to the point.”

 "Now you see the one problem with being in an Alpha Pack, everybody wants to make the decisions." Deucalion says, gesturing toward Kali. “Me, I’m more about discovering new talents, like you.”

“I’m not interested,” Derek snaps, he felt like someone had stuck a hot rod down his throat.

“You haven’t even heard my pitch,” Deucalion replies.

“You want me to kill my own pack?” Derek asks, trying to look up at Deucalion.

"No," Deucalion says, shaking his head. "I want you to do is kill one of them. You do that, and I won’t have to ask you to kill the others, you’ll do it on your own. I did it, Ennis did, and Kali did.” He smiles at Derek before adding, “Tell them what it’s like Kali, to kill one of your own.”

Kali laughs softly to herself “Liberating,” her face takes on this far away expression, as if she were reminiscing.

“Listen to her, Derek.” Deucalion insists, “You really want to stay beholden to a couple of maladjusted teenagers bound to become a liability?” He shakes his head as if the thought of it disgusted him, “Believe me, they will become a liability. In fact, I have a feeling one of them is getting himself into trouble right now.”

 

* * *

 

 

Allison had spent the entire night before perfecting the plan she'd presented to Erica a few hours ago, so when she was jolted awake by Ms. Morell in the middle of French, she wasn't at all surprised. She also wasn't surprised that Ms. Morell had wondered why she'd been at the bank a few nights before. Allison wasn't even surprised when Ms. Morell assigned her lunch detention. 

Allison was surprised however, when she walked into lunch detention and was assigned to restock the janitor’s closet with non-other than Isaac Lahey. 

When Isaac was sent to the principal’s office after the incident with the twins, the principle wasn't able to get a hold of Derek, so the only other disciplinary action they could think of assigning Isaac until they could contact Derek, was to give him lunch detention.

"Mr. Lahey, you will be restocking the janitor’s closet with Ms. Argent." Mr. Harris says.

Isaac turns around in his chair, and sure enough there's Allison Argent.  
Isaac turns back around and rises from his chair, approaching Mr. Harris. 

"Does it have to be with her?" Isaac whispers, covertly gesturing toward where Allison is seated. 

"Well, now that I know you'd prefer not to, yes Mr. Lahey, you have to work with her." 

"Great," Isaac replies, turning back around and looking at Allison.

That day, Boyd, Jackson, and Scott were the only ones at lunch.

Everyone besides Boyd seemed to have something on their minds. Boyd on the other hand didn’t pay the absence of any of the other pack members any thought.

Scott meanwhile, was busy thinking about the Alpha Twins, and kept looking over his shoulder to where the twins usually sat. He was planning on confronting the twins about why they were bothering Isaac.

Jackson too was looking in that same direction, but for a different reason. He thought that if one of the twins showed up, that meant that the other must be with Erica. The thought of anyone but him being with Erica made Jackson uncharacteristically jealous.

"Okay, what did I miss?" Boyd asks after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"What," Scott asks, turning his head toward Boyd. He looked as if he'd just realized Boyd had been sitting there.

"Hm..." Jackson asks, not even bothering to look away from the empty table the twins usually occupied.

"You're both obviously thinking about something, so start talking." Boyd prompts, stuffing a handful of Doritos into his mouth.

"Oh," Jackson replies, finally looking at his pack mates.

"Do you guys feel that?" Scott asks suddenly. It takes a minute, but both Jackson and Boyd nod their heads.

"It's Derek," Boyd and Jackson both say.

 

* * *

 

 

Allison and Isaac stack janitor supplies in silence. She can't help but notice that Isaac kept looking back toward the door, as if expecting someone.

"Is everything okay?" Allison asks after a while.

"Yeah, I'm just not that big a fan of small spaces." Isaac says, looking at the door again.

"Oh," Allison nods. Her mind goes back  to when she'd been in Isaac's house and had to lock Scott up in the old freezer. She remembered the scratch marks all over the inside of the deep freezer. "Can I ask you something?" She asks after a few more minutes of silence.

"Do you have to?" Isaac replies, looking at Allison sidelong. 

"I guess not..." Allison says, looking down at her feet to hide the blush creeping up her neck. It takes a moment for her to speak again. "I'm going to ask you anyway." When Isaac doesn't respond, she continues, "You didn't tell anyone that I was there that night, did you?" 

It takes a minute for Isaac to understand what she's asking him. "Was I supposed to?" He says finally.

"No, it would really make me happy if you kept it between us. I wasn't supposed to be out there, and my dad was really mad at me when he found out, and I wouldn't want Scott getting any ideas about..." It takes Allison a minute to realize she's rambling. Another blush creeps up her face and she hopes Isaac doesn't notice it.

"You being happy isn't that big of a priority of mine, considering you stabbed me with knives... About 12 times," Isaac counters, looking at Allison. "What do you mean about Scott getting ideas anyway, what makes you think he'd even care that you were out there?" He didn't know why, but Isaac felt like he needed to defend Scott.

"I just meant... Nothing, forget I said anything." Allison shakes her head and continues stacking supplies. She understood that Isaac was upset that she'd tried to kill him, but his Alpha killed her mother, and yet she could still find space in her heart to at least be cordial with him. "By the way, they weren't knives," she smiles, "They were Chinese Ring Daggers." 

Isaac couldn't help but smile back, "Good to know." 

"Either way, I'm sorry for stabbing you with them." Allison adds, her face flushing even more. God, she was so embarrassing.

"Was that an apology from The Allison Argent," Isaac jokes, feigning surprise. 

"Would you accept an apology," Allison jokes back, smiling. Something about Isaac pulled her toward him. She just wanted to reach up and wrap her fingers around his golden curls, look into his brilliant blue eyes, and... Suddenly, the closet door slammed shut. 

"No, no, no, no," Isaac exclaims, turning toward the now closed door. He twists the knob and pushes at the door, but it doesn't budge. "No, this isn't good... No, no, no," Isaac mumbled.

He felt like the world was closing in around him, and he didn't know what to do about.  

"Isaac, maybe the door just locked from the outside," Allison reasons, trying to calm Isaac down.

"No, no, no, something's been pushed against it," Isaac says, shaking his head. Flashes of the time when his dad would lock him up in the freezer come to mind. "No," he yells hitting the door. "Please," his hands begin to frantically smash at the door. "Stop it," his hands slam at the door with more force, more speed. Isaac could feel the shift. It felt like something inside the pit of his stomach was unfolding and winding its way up his arms, legs, and neck. He knew he needed to calm down, needed to take deep breaths and act rationally, but his wolf had been unleashed, and any sense of rationality was gone. 

Allison knew something was wrong before she saw Isaac's face. She knew something was wrong as soon as Isaac had stopped yelling and slamming at the door. She knew something was wrong as soon as she heard his breathing turn hollow and jagged. "Isaac," She whispers slowly, "Isaac it’ll be okay, I'll just call for help and someone will come help us. Just stay..." 

Isaac turns toward the voice behind him. Somewhere inside him he knew it was Allison, but all he could think about now was that there was a beating heart with him, a beating heart  he felt this indescribable need to stop.  
He reaches his clawed hands up to her, and as he squeezes at her wrists, Allison thrashes at his hold. 

"Isaac," she yells at him, her heartbeat spiking. "Isaac, stop!" Isaac was shaking her, she could feel her teeth rattling in her mouth, and a sharp pinch at her wrists where Isaac's claws were puncturing her skin. “Isaac, you need to stop!" Allison pleads, "It's just me, Allison. You need to calm down so that I can call for help!" 

Just as Isaac is about to lash out, he's ceased from behind and thrown out of the janitors closet.

He looks up at the Beta in front of him, and his own wolf instincts tell him to attack. 

Scott holds Isaac down by his neck and flashes his golden eyes at him. "Isaac," he growls. 

Regardless of the fact that both of the wolves were betas, both of the wolves are equals, Isaac's own wolf began to retreat and submit. 

When Scott's sure that Isaac's fully back to himself, he turns toward Allison and assesses the damage. He looks at Allison's bloody wrists and sucks in his breath. 

"It’s okay," Allison rushes, pulling her arms away. "I'm fine, it's okay." 

"Allison, I'm so sorry." Isaac says, sitting up and leaning on a wall. "I didn't mean to, I tried to stop, I just... I'm sorry." 

"No, it's okay. It doesn't even hurt." Allison insists, shaking her head. 

"No, it isn't. Come," Isaac begins to reach out for Allison, but she recoils behind Scott. "Please," Isaac pleads, looking into Allison's eyes. "I did this, let me at least try to make it a little better." 

Allison knew she should have refused, she knew she should have shaken her head and insisted it was fine, but for some reason she found herself gravitating toward Isaac, squatting down in front of where he was seated, and reaching her arms out to him. 

Isaac extends his own arms out toward Allison and meets her halfway. He wraps his arms around her bloodstained wrists, and his veins turn a dark gray. 

Instantly, Allison's stinging subsides, and then is completely gone. "How..." She begins, before realizing that nothing made sense when you were surrounded by werewolves. She reaches one of her now painless hands out toward Isaac's face and rests it on his cheek. "Thank you," She whispers, flashing him a warm smile.

"No," He says wrapping his own hand around her wrist and leaning into her touch. "Thank you." 

Scott couldn't help but smile at the scene before him. For the first time that day, Scott finally understood what Stiles meant by an open relationship. 

"So what are we going to do about the Alpha Twins," Isaac asks, after a few minutes. 

"Well at least now we know one thing." Scott say.

"What's that," Allison asks, looking up toward her ex-boyfriend.

"Now we know that they aren't just trying to get you angry, they're trying to get someone hurt." 

"So, what are we going to do," Isaac repeats. 

"We're going to get them angry," Scott says, looking at Isaac and Allison, "really angry."

 

* * *

 

 

Scott walks into his last period of the day with uncontainable enthusiasm. He couldn’t wait for the signal from Allison. When she sent it, he was going to bait the twins.

He sat in his seat and smiled at the Alpha’s beside him. Both twins look a little confused, but neither let on. A few minutes later, Scott feels his phone buzz in his pocket and pulls it out. He opens the text from Allison and smiles at the picture message of Isaac on one of the motorcycles. His heart flutters at the image, but he shrugs it off, he needed to focus.

Swiftly, he pulls out a piece of engine equipment that Allison had detached from the bike. He didn’t know what it did, or what it was used for, and to him it looked sort of like a donut, but he knew that the sight of it would really irritate the twins. He put his hand through the hole in the middle of the object and twirled it in his hands. When the twins look at him, their expressions are livid. “That looks kind of important.” Scott jokes, grinning at the twins. He rummages through his backpack and pulls out another part. He takes a piece of it and presents it to the twins. “I have no idea what this thing does.”

One of the twins looks at the other, and suddenly there’s the sound of a motorcycle engine in the far end of the hallway. The twins look at Scott and he shrugs, his grin growing even wider.

One of them jolts out of their seat, and rushes out of the door.

“Wait,” the other calls, “Aiden don’t!” Ethan, Scott, and the rest of the class follow him out.

 

Meanwhile, Isaac is riding the bike through the halls. He turns a corner and there, is none other than an Alpha twin hurdling toward him. Isaac slows the bike preventing a collision, takes off the motorcycle helmet, and smiles at the twin who doesn’t look in the least bit pleased.

“Get off my bike!” He growls at Isaac when he reaches him.

“No problem,” Isaac replies, climbing off the bike. He reaches forward and places his hands on each of the twin’s shoulders and pushing himself off of the bike. He lunges himself backwards and does a backflip off of the boy just as the rest of the class enters the hall.

Ms. Blake rushes over to where Aiden and the bike are parked and shakes her head in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me,” she scoffs, looking at Aiden. “You realize this is going to result in a suspension?”

 

* * *

 

“For centuries, there have been werewolves, but for every werewolf pack there has also been a Passage. You, Stiles, and you, Lydia, are Passages. I am as well.” Dr. Deaton says.

“What do you mean, Passages? What, what do Passages do?” Stiles asks, looking at Lydia and back at Dr. Deaton.

“Passages are the thread between supernatural and natural beings. You are the fine line between the two.”

“Okay, so what do passages do?” Lydia questions.

“In ancient times, Passages were thought as the only people capable of fighting the supernatural. They were the only ones skilled in using herbal methods to combat all and any supernatural threat. That is, before hunters came and used those procedures to destroy. After many, many years of hunters using the techniques that Passages were born to practice, Passages became sympathetic to the supernatural. Became allies of sorts. Over time, Passages became more of a guardian then anything. They helped prepare their associates for battle against hunters.”

“So, is being an Passage a way of life, or is it hereditary?” Lydia says after a minute.

“Hereditary,” Deaton answers looking at the both of them. “In Stiles’ case, he inherited his Passage gene from his mother. You Lydia, are one of the few Passages I’ve heard of, that have just sprouted. It isn’t common for a Passage to simply evolve. That’s the only way I could possibly explain you’re immunity to lycanthropy.”

“Wait, Passages are immune? I’m not immune, I mean, I don’t think I’m immune, I mean I’ve never really had anything happen to me to question my immune system when it comes to becoming a wolf, or any type of wolf related things, like a Kanima, but I’m pretty sure I’m not immune.” Stiles rambles, looking at Dr. Deaton.

“I doubt you would be immune,” Deaton replies. “You are only half Passage. Your father is human.”

“Wait, so Lydia’s a full Passage but both of her parents are human, how is that even possible?” Stiles says, furrowing his eyebrows and running a hand through his hair.

“She just developed the power.” Dr. Deaton says, concern shadowing his face.

“Why do you look so worried about that?” Stiles asks, studying Lydia’s face.

“Passages don’t just cultivate unless there’s a threat on the horizon.” Deaton explains, “The reason Lydia would be a Passage is if there’s a danger larger than a Passage with the natural born genes can handle.”

“Why is that?” Stiles snaps, panic rising in him.

“She’s stronger than you are, stronger than I am, stronger than Ms. Morell is, she’s stronger than all of us. But if her strength is needed, then the threat out there, is also stronger than us…”

 

* * *

 

 

“See, the reason I’m always invested in new talent is simple. We all know a pack is strongest due to its individual parts. The stronger the individual parts, the greater the whole.” Deucalion says, folding and unfolding his walking stick. “When I lost my sight, one of my Betas assumed I wasn’t fit for my role anymore. He tried to take it from me. Killing him taught me something about Alphas I didn’t know they could do, his power was added to mine. I became stronger, faster, and more powerful then I had ever been. I tested this new ability to subsume the power of your own by killing another one. In fact, I killed them all,” Deucalion smiles. “I took the individual parts and became a greater individual hole.” He then bends down in front of Derek and pulls his head up toward him by his hair. Then, he places his hand over Derek’s face and studies the crevasses of his face. “You’re right Kali, he looks like his mother.”

Cora’s heart clenches at the mention of her mother’s name.

“You’ll get to know me, Derek.” Deucalion says, rising from the floor. “Just like she did.”

“I know you,” Derek says, his eyes fixed on the pool of blood before him. “I know what you are.” Every time he spoke, it took more and more of his energy. “You’re a fanatic.”

“No, me,” Deucalion says, shaking his head. “You’ve never seen anything like me. “I am the Alpha of alphas, I am the Apex of apex predators, I am Death destroyer of worlds, and _I am the Demon Wolf_.” Deucalion bellows.

Cora recoils and stumbles backward, falling over. She knew that Deucalion was dangerous, but she didn’t know what he was capable of.”

Kali pulls the pipe out of Derek’s back, and he feels both relief, and tremendous pain as his tissue began to reconstruct itself. He tumbles over, and gasps for breath.

Turning away from Derek, Kali walked toward the door, offering Deucalion her elbow. Ennis follows them out, and as they leave, Cora rushes to Derek’s side.

 

* * *

 

“I wish I could have seen their faces,” Isaac says, shaking his head. “Did they look seriously pissed?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Scott nods. Looking up, he looks upward and standing before them is the twins themselves. “Kind of like that.”

Both twins start to pull of their shirts, and Scott raises his eyebrows with confusion.

Suddenly, the twins begin to merge into one larger than life Alpha werewolf.

Isaac throws off his backpack and sizes up the combined twins. “We can take them,” he decides, rolling up his sleeves.

“Isaac, are you kidding,” Scott pulls at his pack mates arm, “run!”

Before they could take three steps however, the twins grab both Isaac and Scott by their necks and raise them off the ground. Then, they slam Isaac and Scott’s heads together and throw them across the hallway.

With Scott and Isaac both suffering from the dizziness of their collision, they hear heels run down the hallway. They smell Erica before they see her.

“Aiden, Ethan, stop!” She yells, rushing over to them. “Please,” she begs, putting her hands on both sides of their face. “Duke isn’t going to like this,” she whispers as the twins start to separate.

Aiden tangles his hands in Erica’s hair and smiles at her.

“Aiden, what are you doing?” Erica asks, shaking her head.

Aiden pulls Erica into him and kisses her on the lips, “I’m sorry, I just…”

Erica shakes her head, looking into his eyes, “it doesn’t matter. He’s going to be so angry with you.”

“She’s right,” a voice calls from behind Scott and Isaac. He walks forward and stops in front of the twins and Erica. “Erica, be a dear and go tend to your friends. I’ll take care of these two.”

Erica rushes toward Scott and Isaac, grabs Isaac’s backpack, and looks at both boys still lying on the floor. “We have to go, now.”

As Isaac and Scott compose themselves, Deucalion uncaps his walking stick to display a sharp edged blade. Rapidly, he swipes the edge across the left cheek of both twins. He recaps the blade and walks away from the twins. The twins glare at Isaac and Scott one last time before following after Deucalion.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter so far, and I'm still trying to figure out where this is going, but I hope you like it! I got a lot of my inspiration from a lot of the different works I've seen, and I've tried to put my own spin on the basic concepts the show already has. I changed some of the wording up a bit, but it's some of the scenes I have come straight from the show.  
> Some of the inspiration I got were from "When The Hunters Came" others from "let the wild rumpus start", so go check those out, they're really great!


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